William Stanley Mazeroski (September 5, 1936 – February 20, 2026), nicknamed "Maz" and "the Glove", was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1956 to 1972. A ten-time All-Star known during his career primarily for his spectacular defensive play, he came to be known best for one of the most memorable home runs in baseball history, a dramatic ninth-inning drive in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series that beat the favored New York Yankees. It was the first time that the major league season ended with a home run, and remains the only walk-off home run to clinch a World Series championship in Game 7. ESPN ranked the World Series winner at the top of its list of the 100 Greatest Home Runs of All Time, while Sports Illustrated had it eighth in its compilation of the 100 Greatest Moments in Sports History. Mazeroski received the Babe Ruth Award for his play in the Series, during which he batted .320.
An eight-time Gold Glove Award winner, Mazeroski was particularly noted for his ability to make the pivot in turning double plays. His 1,706 career double plays remain a major league record for a second baseman, and were the most by any non-first baseman in history until shortstop Omar Vizquel passed him in 2009. Mazeroski led the National League (NL) in double plays for eight consecutive years, and recorded over 100 double plays eleven times, both also major league records. His 161 double plays in 1966 remain the major league record for second basemen; when he retired, he held the top three marks in NL history. He led the major leagues in assists a record nine times, and led the NL in putouts five times and in fielding percentage three times. Mazeroski set NL records for career games (2,094), putouts (4,974), assists (6,685), and total chances (11,863) by a second baseman, all of which were later broken by Joe Morgan; his career fielding percentage of .983 ranked second in NL history when he retired, less than a quarter of a point behind Red Schoendienst.
Mazeroski also provided contributions on offense which were not typical for his position; his 138 career home runs and 853 runs batted in (RBI) were the most by any second baseman during the period between 1944 and 1974, with his home run total putting him behind only Rogers Hornsby among NL second basemen when his career ended. His home run production was particularly notable due to Pittsburgh's cavernous home stadium, where the distant reaches in left and center field made it typically the league's most difficult home run stadium until the mid-1960s.
Mazeroski closed out his career by helping the Pirates to three consecutive division titles; he and Roberto Clemente were the only members of the 1960 champions who were on the team when they picked up another title in , beating the favored Baltimore Orioles in seven games. Mazeroski later became a coach for the Pirates and the Seattle Mariners. The Pirates organization retired his uniform number in 1987. Mazeroski was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.
Early life and education Mazeroski was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, to Mayme and Louis Mazeroski who lived in nearby Witch Hazel, Ohio. The Mazeroskis are Polish American. Louis Mazeroski had been a highly regarded baseball prospect—he once had a tryout with the Cleveland Indians—but a severed foot suffered in a coal mine accident ruined his dream as well as his livelihood. Along with his parents and sister Mary, Bill Mazeroski grew up in a small one-room house that was devoid of electricity and indoor plumbing. He often went by the name of Catfish because of a penchant for fishing, which he took up out of necessity.
Louis Mazeroski became prone to alcohol, but he did not want his son to follow him to the coal mines. The two played catch and talked ball regularly. As family legend had it, Bill's father purchased his glove with the pay from digging out an outhouse. Their favorite drill involved Louis bouncing a tennis ball against a brick wall for Bill to field. The exercise was designed to sharpen hand-eye coordination and ability to quickly adjust to bad bounces, areas in which Bill excelled as early as elementary school. As a child, Bill was a fan of the Cleveland Indians and counted Lou Boudreau, Bob Feller, Ken Keltner, and Joe Gordon as being among his heroes.
Bill Mazeroski attended Warren Consolidated High School in Tiltonsville, Ohio, where he was a multi-sports star, most notably in baseball and basketball. He was a four-year starter with the varsity baseball team, normally as a shortstop or pitcher. In his senior year, he was named Class A 2nd team All-Ohio in basketball.
Mazeroski turned down college scholarship offers from Duquesne University, Ohio State and West Virginia to pursue a professional baseball career. In 1954, after several major league teams had courted the infielder, the Indians, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies among them, the 17-year-old finally chose the Pirates, largely because they agreed to accelerate his start in Class-A ball unlike the others.
In July 1957, Mazeroski enlisted with fellow player Buddy Pritchard in the U.S. Army Reserve, serving in the 773rd Artillery Battalion.Bevis Baseball Research: Knowledge about baseball history by Charlie Bevis - Army Reservists, 1957 to 1963 Bevis Baseball Research. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
Professional career Early struggles and rapid ascent
Success at the pro level did not come easily for Mazeroski at the outset. In 1955, the 17-year-old made his debut with the Class A Williamsport Grays, where he hit .235 in 93 games. He played exclusively at shortstop, where he was charged with 31 errors. The next spring, Pirates general manager Branch Rickey noticed how well he turned the double play as a second baseman, which prompted his move to the right side of the diamond. Mazeroski moved up to the Triple A Hollywood Stars farm club to begin the 1955 season. While he played 20 error-less games at his new position, the two-level jump proved to be too much at the plate. He was sent back to Williamsport, where he got back on track with a .293 batting average and 11 homers in 114 games.
Mazeroski returned to the Hollywood Stars at the outset of the 1956 campaign, only this time things were noticeably different. He hit .306 with an .823 OPS (on-base plus slugging) to earn a promotion to the major leagues midway through the season. At a time when the vast majority of young athletes were required to hone their skills in the minors for several years, Mazeroski got the call at 19 years of age. As expected, the transition was not a seamless one.
He made his first major league appearance on July 7, 1956, against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in New York. His first hit was a single off Johnny Antonelli in his first at bat. But for most of the next five weeks, his batting average tumbled below the .200 mark. He hit his first home run on August 16, a 2-run shot off Robin Roberts, but a few days later, Pirates manager Bobby Bragan dropped him behind the pitcher in the batting order for 10 games. Mazeroski regrouped to hit .243 in 81 games, but later said that the drop in the lineup hurt his confidence.
After Danny Murtaugh replaced Bragan at the helm in early August 1957, Mazeroski and the Pirates showed immediate and steady improvement. In its 1958 preseason analysis, Sports Illustrated reported that he was seen as potentially "the finest young infielder in the business." In 1958, the young Bucs promptly stunned the baseball world with a second-place finish, while Mazeroski blossomed into an All-Star for the first time in his career. His 19 home runs and 69 RBI each ranked second at his position in the major leagues. He also was selected for his first Gold Glove Award. His father Louis died of lung cancer early the next year.
The home run of all home runs
On the heels of a subpar season for Mazeroski and his fourth-place team, the 1960 campaign exceeded the wildest dreams of Pittsburgh sports fans. The Battlin' Bucs, as they would become known, dominated the National League virtually from the start to claim their first pennant since the 1927 season. Meanwhile, Mazeroski was an NL starter in both All-Star Games.
The Pirates seized control of the pennant race in August, when they won 21 of 31 games with Mazeroski in a lead role. He hit .373, drove in 16 runs and had a 26-game errorless streak in the month. The team was rewarded with a trip to the 1960 World Series, where the second baseman forged his legacy against the New York Yankees with a pair of game-winning home runs. The second came on October 13 off reliever Ralph Terry at Forbes Field, the only homer to end a World Series in major league history until 1993. One of the wildest games in baseball history got wilder yet in the top of the ninth inning, when the Yankees plated two runs to forge a 9–9 deadlock. At that point, Mazeroski admittedly got caught up in the sudden turn of events. It seemed the second baseman had forgotten that he was to lead off the bottom half of the inning, and it wasn't until first base coach Lenny Levy reminded him of the fact that he hurriedly picked up a bat.
At precisely 3:36 p.m. local time, on a 1-0 count, Mazeroski slammed Terry's high fastball just to the left of the 406-foot marker in distant left-center field. "Here's a swing and a high fly ball going deep to left! This may do it!" NBC Radio broadcaster Chuck Thompson told the national audience. "Back to the wall goes (Yogi) Berra... It is over the fence -home run! The Pirates win! .. Ladies and gentlemen, Mazeroski has hit a one-nothing pitch over the left field fence at Forbes Field to win the 1960 World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates!"
The home run gave the Pirates their first World Series championship in 35 years and was followed by celebrations in Pittsburgh.
"I was almost at second base when (the ball) finally went over," Mazeroski said. "I was running so hard, just trying to make sure I'd get to third. Then it took a moment or two to realize what happened - it was gone." At that point, Mazeroski finished his sprint around the bases like a giddy schoolboy before he was mobbed at home plate. "You know, all I could think about was, "We beat the Yankeesǃ We beat themǃ We beat the damn Yankeesǃ" he said.
Andy Jerpe, 14, retrieved the ball amid the cherry trees in Schenley Park, which was adjacent to the ballpark. After taking pictures with the ball for the gathered press, Mazeroski signed the ball for him in the clubhouse and told him, "Keep it. The memory's good enough for me," but the keepsake was lost during a neighborhood game a short time later.
The Game 7 homer marked the third game-winning hit for Mazeroski in the series. In the fourth inning of Game 1, with Don Hoak on base, he hit a two-run homer off reliever Jim Coates that cleared the large scoreboard in straight-away left field. The blow extended Pittsburgh's lead to 5–2 and proved to be the difference in a 6–4 victory. In Game 5, Mazeroski rapped a two-run double to left field off Art Ditmar that scored Hoak and Gino Cimoli in the fourth inning. The hit gave his team a 3–0 advantage that held up in a 5–2 triumph. Even though Mazeroski hit .320 with team highs of five RBI, four runs scored, and two home runs, Yankees counterpart Bobby Richardson was selected the Most Valuable Player of the series.
In September 2010, a statue of Mazeroski was unveiled outside PNC Park in Pittsburgh, depicting his legendary home run celebration—a runner pose with both arms extended, ball cap in right hand. The home run was ranked number 2 on The Sporting News list of "Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments. In 2020, writing for The Athletic, sportswriter Joe Posnanski ranked the home run at number 8 in his series of "60 moments", a list of the most memorable moments in baseball history.
Later career